


be my valentine

by eg1701



Series: 90s reddie for the soul [16]
Category: IT (1990)
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Dinner, Fluff, M/M, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:47:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27338164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eg1701/pseuds/eg1701
Summary: Richie bakes a cake for Valentine's Day.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Series: 90s reddie for the soul [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1800730
Comments: 12
Kudos: 44





	be my valentine

**Author's Note:**

> oof it's been a lil bit since i posted one of these. sorry about that lol

Richie couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually baked something. He had fond memories of baking in the kitchen with his mother, cookies are Christmas time, pie for Thanksgiving, but it was more the time with his mother he’d enjoyed, not the baking itself. 

But here he was, cookbook propped open and ingredients strewn across the counter, because dammit, he was going to bake a cake.

Eddie always said he preferred homemade food to that at restaurants. Richie was pretty sure-- at least he hoped-- that Eddie would keep that attitude up with this possibly inedible cake compared to a very good slice they could have gotten at any restaurant in LA. 

But Valentine’s Day at home. That’s what they had decided. Eddie was going to make dinner, and Richie promised to take care of dessert. At first, he had planned to _buy_ something, but if Eddie was going to cook, surely Richie could bake. 

“Can’t be that hard,” he muttered, running a ringer down the recipe. Eddie was supposed to be gone for several more hours, and Richie hoped to have this done by the time he got home to turn the kitchen over. 

This was the first time Richie had made real Valentine’s Day plans with anybody. He’d always thought it was kind of a commercial holiday, for high schoolers and newlyweds, but Eddie had looked so damn _good_ in red that morning, and had seemed to excited to finally have a Valentine, that Richie had decided maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.

The radio played from the other room while he baked. It was probably good to focus on what he was doing, but he’d never liked the silence. It was better to maybe put in a little too much sugar because the song on the radio was so good than to listen to the silence. Eddie wouldn’t have to know about the extra sugar. 

He actually didn’t know what Eddie was making for dinner, only that he would throw Richie out of the kitchen when he got back, and he had made an extensive shopping list. According to the phone call last week, Ben and Bev were _also_ having a dinner at home, which made Richie feel a little better about the plans, but Ben had been woefully unhelpful when it came to Valentine’s Day gifts. 

“Well, what are you getting Bev?” Richie asked. 

“A necklace,” Ben replied, “Eddie doesn’t seem the necklace type.”

“You’re unhelpful Haystack. Why’d you even call me?”

“You called _me_ ,” Ben laughed, “It’s just Valentine’s Day Richie, it’s not that serious. You’ve already _got_ the Valentine. Eddie’s pretty simple. He’ll love whatever you do.”

That was when Richie had decided he was going to make a cake. From scratch. Maggie Tozier’s famous Devil’s food. They’d all had it as kids, and he’d remembered trying to sleep last night two things. One, was that he had his mother’s recipe book buried away somewhere and two, Eddie had told him, once, years and years ago how good he thought it was. It was perfect.

Now all he had to do was make it taste half as good.

***

When Eddie got home, Richie had just finished washing the last of the dishes. The cake was hidden on top of the fridge, under the cake plate that was only just collecting dust. Richie couldn’t remember the last time someone had made a cake and stored it there, and it was possible it wasn’t even his plate originally. 

“There are for you,” Eddie smiled, and held out a bouquet. Richie stared at it, as if flowers were some kind of alien concept he had never seen before, “They looked sort of sad left behind at the store. I thought you might like them. Pretend you’ve just won an Oscar.”

“You bought me _flowers_ Eds?” Richie couldn’t remember anybody giving him flowers like this. It seemed… very romantic. But then again, Eddie did love him. They were technically engaged. Maybe he just wasn’t used to the romance of it all yet.

“It’s Valentine’s Day. Are you done in the kitchen? I need to get started.”

“Oh sure,” Richie said, “Go ahead. I don’t think that there’s a vase in this house.”

“I’ll figure something out later. Make yourself scarce while I cook,” Eddie shooed him away and set his bags down on the counter, “Go vacuum the living room. That would be a wonderful Valentine’s Day present.”

“Your wish is my command,” he went over and kissed Eddie once, then ducked out of the kitchen to hunt down the vacuum cleaner. 

***

“This is cannibalism Eds, at least on your part,” Richie said, sitting down and motioning to the plates. Richie had to admit the dinner looked fantastic, “This feels illegal.”

“You’re a dork,” Eddie shook his head, “My mother doesn’t have much to offer, but her spaghetti recipe is one of her best. Do you want some wine?”

“Of course I do,” Richie smiled, “I think you can never deny your true name of Spaghetti Man now. You’ve cemented it.”

“I’ve accepted it,” Eddie handed over the other wine glass, “Should we toast?”

“That feels right.”

“To?”

Richie considered it, “To… us I suppose. Why not?”

Eddie laughed, and clinked their wine glasses together, “To us. You big ol’ sap you. I hope you like it. I had to guess on some of the measurements since I didn’t want to call my mother and ask her.”

“I’m sure it’s great Eds. Even if we’re eating you.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, “It’s not even a great nickname Rich. How weird it must be to other people.”

“But Eds it _rhymes._ It’s so perfect. It was my best work.”

“ _That_ was your best work? You might want to try a little harder honey.”

“You love it,” Richie shook his head.

“Yeah, but I can’t tell you because you’d never let me live it down. How’s dinner?”

“It’s good, just like I told you it would be. I see you found a vase.”

He pointed to the water pitcher Eddie had reconfigured into a vase for the flowers. Richie wasn’t sure what all the flowers were, though he recognized the roses. The white flowers he didn’t know, but they went together well. Clearly the florist had known what they were doing. He wondered if they really were left at the grocery store, or if Eddie had just _said_ that to make it seem like no big deal.

“What did you settle on for dessert?” Eddie asked. 

“Ah ha,” Richie smiled, “That’s the surprise Spaghetti Man, but it’s a favorite of yours I think.”

“Intriguing,” Eddie said.

Dinner passed quietly. Richie told a stupid story, just to make Eddie laugh, and they talked about Ben and Bev’s baby, and what they thought they’d pick for the name, and they talked about Bill’s new book he was plotting, and whether or not Mike was actually going to get around to asking the women he’d been talking about out. 

“What’d you get for dessert?” Eddie asked, collecting the plates and taking them to the sink, “I made sure to save room.”

“You sit, I’ll get it,” Richie took his napkin off his lap and going over to the fridge, “Too short to reach it anyway. How’s the weather down there?”

“Beep beep Richie.”

“From my own Eddie? I never would have expected it,” Richie shook his head and sighed dramatically, “You wound me.”

“Ta-da,” Richie set the cake plate down and took the top off with a flourish, “Look good.”

“Cake,” Eddie smiled up at him, “You know what I was just thinking about?”

“What?” Richie cut up slices, slightly nervous it was going to taste terrible. He was fairly certain he’d gotten all the ingredients, but it was possible something was missing, or there was not enough sugar or too much milk or something equally incorrect. 

“Your mom’s chocolate cake. Remember that? It was famous with all of us.”

“Funny you should mention that,” Richie muttered, and focused on Eddie’s first bite. He was pretty good at reading Eddie’s thoughts, especially if he didn’t like something, but he was also good at pretending to like things if he thought it would hurt Richie’s feelings, “What do you think?”

“It’s good,” Eddie nodded, and Richie was pretty sure he meant it, “Where’s it from?”

“Made it myself Mr. Kaspbrak. Mrs. Tozier’s famous Devil’s Food.”

“You _made_ this? And we continue to buy desserts? It tastes just like your mothers.”

“Aw shucks, you’re gonna make me blush.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Eddie said, “You’re going to have to make this once a week at least.”

“I think I used every single dish in this house,” Richie shook his head. The cake really was good, though he wasn’t sure he’d go so far as to compare it to his mother’s. Richie liked to think his mother would have been happy that he’d made this recipe for this specific evening. 

She’d always liked Eddie.

**Author's Note:**

> several notes! 
> 
> 1) the flowers and their meanings can be found below written by my friend who can be found [ here](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AintNoPrincess) where she writes original work for our dnd campaign! go talk to her about flowers. she loves 'em
> 
> "Chamomile is for energy in adversity, so with the rose it means strength of love during obstacles and the dogwood helps it say you can overcome anything, orange blossoms mean eternal love and when they go with dogwood it's what you'd give to someone on the anniversary of a hard year. the belladonna means silence, so it'd be hidden away....  
> rose is of course eternal love and dogwood is overcoming any adversity"
> 
> 2) yes! more losers content coming. ben and bev have a baby on the way after all! 
> 
> 3) again! apologies for the slow updates!


End file.
